Faith Lutheran Church (Hamilton, Mont.)

This congregation held its first worship service on July 16, 1950 with 45 persons attending. The first permanent home of the congregation was a small brick building at the corner of North 2nd and River Street. It was rented from the Seventh Day Adventist Church and later purchased for $3,500. Student interns served the congregation until 1952 when Rev. Emil Stolte, a 1952 graduate of Wartburg Seminary, was installed as the first ordained pastor. During his pastorate a loan was obtained from the Board of Home Missions and an addition was built to the original brick structure. This was followed by a fellowship room and other basement facilities completed in 1954. In 1957 a house was purchased for a parsonage.

In 1967 the congregation sold the parsonage and gave the pastor a housing allowance. In 1974 a two-acre tract of land was purchased at the corner of Lewis and Winkler Lanes, and because of the increasing growth of the congregation a new church was started in June of 1982. This was ready for occupancy by June 5, 1983. The former church on North 2nd was sold.

From the guide to the Faith Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Montana, Records, 1951-2012, (Pacific Lutheran University)